MARQUETTE, Mich (WZMQ) – A new Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate has been selected to continue to promote the art of poetry in The UP. The UP Poet Laureate Foundation has appointed Professor Emerita Beverly Matherne to serve a 2 year term.
Matherne is originally from Mississippi, but now lives in Ishpeming and works at Northern Michigan University. Matherne has already started her work on a program called The UP Poet Laureate Project which will bring poetry, interactive lessons, and writing activities to high school and middle school classrooms throughout The UP
“People need to hear the poems” Matherne says, “sometimes they listen to a poem just to laugh, but many poems go very deep into our psyche and into our psychological underpinnings and they say things that need to be said that can only be said through poetry.”
A 10 person committee of poets, writers, professors, tribal members, and arts advocates from across The UP was appointed to go through applications and select the next Poet Laureate. Matherne is the fifth person to serve in the position since its creation in 2013, and the second woman.
